Long rides and high BGs?

I've gotten a lot of miles on the road in down here in the south land thanks to the mild winter and spring. The one thing that I hadn't done is get in a ride longer than 50 miles or so. So, when I decided to ride a local century ride, I was a little apprehensive. It started early, like 7:30 AM, and I took it easy for the first 50 miles. I met up with another cyclist who rode a bit slower than my pace, which was kind nice because it made me take it easy. I also stopped at several of the aid stations and got snacks. After 75 miles I felt pretty good. I had dropped the cyclist I was riding with and was catching and dropping other cyclists--not that this is a great feat, but it was showing that my pace was really holding up.

We had also had good weather and the blistering heat that we could have had was abated by some cloud cover, and there was a tail-wind or cross-wind the entire last 50 miles. I stopped at the 85-mile aid station, and having been on the road for about 5 hours, figured I needed some carbs. I slammed a Coke and headed off. Again I was riding well and spinning along.

But at 93 miles I started to feel sick. I lost all power in my legs. The clouds abandoned and the heat was climbing. I was wondering if I was overheating. The terrain was not difficult, and I tried to keep going. Eventually I just stopped under a tree and lay down on some grass. I felt miserable. After a little while I realized that I was not going to be able to ride. I got out my phone and called the ride sag truck and asked them for a ride--for the last 6 miles! And my legs were feeling just fine only 5 miles back. I felt dejected, but got the ride back to my car and headed home.

I tested my BG, and it was 325. Damn! That Coke made my BG shoot up. Apparently my morning shot had worn off and the Lantus wasn't enough, even during a long ride. And it shot up so high that I couldn't continue. It would have been unusual for me to carry insulin on a ride. Next time no Coke!

One bad side-effect from this is that I now start to wonder about eating on rides. Should I eat more? I'm feeling like I should, but what if I go high? Damn. It's a real tightrope.